Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Good morning! It's the first day of school in our house, and I'm typing super quick to get this recipe out to you so I can bask in the fact that the baby is napping, the sun is shining, and the HOUSE IS QUIET.

QUIET QUIET QUIET

I may go do cartwheels on the back lawn...

right after I watch a soap opera marathon while eating a box of bon-bons...

This is a quick, easy, and super-tasty chicken recipe. I'd highly recommend using thighs--- they hold up better in the slow cooker and dark meat just tastes better. :-) I use boneless, skinless thighs. If your thighs have bones and skin, fish them out of the pot before serving (the chicken will separate from the bone and it'll be pretty easy).

Use a 4-quart slow cooker (if using a 6-quart, this will cook faster. Check after 3 hours on high, 5 hours on low).
Put the chicken into your cooker. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, then pour evenly over the top.
Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3-4 (I'd go with low---).
Serve with basmati rice and steamed or roasted vegetables.

The Verdict.

My kids adore this chicken. The ketchup and honey taste a bit like barbecue sauce, but slightly more tart. The basil gives it a different, herby flavor which I like a lot. If you are into freezer meals, this is a great candidate--- load all the ingredients into a freezer bag (raw chicken, the sauce ingredients) and then freeze. Thaw the bag overnight in the fridge, then plop the ingredients into your cooker for a fast morning plug-in.

Hi Unknown--- sure. The white meat tenders will cook just fine, but you'll probably want to keep an eye on them and pull them out as soon as they are cooked through, OR cook them longer until they've fallen apart and become shredded. Either way is just fine---it's personal preference and how long you'd like to cook.

For those of us not home in time to catch a crockpot at the 6 hr mark, I always use frozen meats and they come out great when I get home 10 hours later. I do this with every type of meat, chicken, pot roast, etc...I can't WAIT to try this one!

This is just what I was looking for. Didn't have dinner for tonight, but I had some frozen (on the bone) thighs and just threw it all together. How long do you think it will take on low with frozen thighs? Thanks!

Hilarious!!! Great minds think alike! I have this in my Crock Pot today! Last night I was perusing "More Make it Fast, Cook It Slow" trying to figure out what tonight's dinner was going to be, and I came across this recipe... Here was my thinking:1) Sounds amazing.2) I have all of those ingredients on hand.3) I can't believe that I haven't made this yet!

So imagine my surprise when I saw your post today... and I had the exact same thing in my Crock Pot at home in Virginia Beach. Yep... Great minds I tell ya!

I agree with using the chicken thighs, although we tend to prefer chicken breasts, for some reason they come out very dry when I crock pot them. thighs crock pot much better, and since they are cheaper too, we crock pot thighs alot. This is another great receipe with ingredients we already have.Thanks!

I like the look of this. I bought a slow cooker recently and like the results with beef and pork, not so much with chicken although I only tried that once, I think I overcooked it a little. I'll have a go at trying this recipe to see how it goes.

Hi Stephanie - this recipe looks amazing! I am going to dig out my crock pot again now that fall is here, and my husband adores honey sauces, so I'll be making this for him soon. I'll probably blog about how it turned out too, since I tend to have adventures in the kitchen. Thanks for posting!

This sounds delicious and I love thighs, too. I like your suggestion for freezing this in the sauce and then baking in the morning. I am not always a huge fan of freezing stuff after it's cooked, but I love the timesaver of freezing things in the marinade or sauce- that's great!

Oh, this was so good. Thank You! It is our new favorite. -works so well for those occasions when guests are coming and kitchen time is short... Just put it in the slow cooker early in the day and forget it. Yum!! and Smells heavenly while cooking!

Hi! Just made this with the chicken breasts I've had in the freezer forever - the recipe worked awesome! This is something I'll be making time and again; it's so simple, and SO delicious. Thanks a ton for sharing!

I made this the other day and it was great! I was a little nervous because I was using a 6 quart crockpot. I threw in about 6 thighs and the sauce. While it certainly tasted awesome, like a spicy/sweet barbeque, the chicken was a little dry. If I make it again, I would probably throw in 3 or so lbs of chicken and double the sauce recipe. Loved it and told that I should put it in regular rotation in menu planning. Thanks so much for an awesome blog! As a family of two, a Phd student and a Children's minister, life is sometimes too crazy to cook. I can throw stuff in the crock pot and it will be ready to eat when we are. You rock!

My youngest started pre-school last week and I have 3 hours totally to myself 5 days a week. It's odd, but I'm LOVEN the free time! Really excited to try this chicken, I added it to our meal plan for the month

Had this chicken last night, it was wonderful. I had a three pound bag of chicken thighs so I doubled the sauce and then when they were down we poured the sauce into a small pan added some cornstarch and it made an awesome bbq type sauce to put over the chicken and the rice. This will definately be added to our list of favorites. Tonight I am going to add the leftover chicken to some low mein for my kiddos.

I made this today! It was good. I cooked some carrot "coins" in the liquid on the stove (once the chicken was done) - they were good, so next time I'll throw them in at the beginning. Served over rice. Yum! Thanks!

Our oven is on the fritz and I've been inspired to see how many things I can cook up in my crock pot before we fix it (it's too hot to run the oven anyway). I stumbled upon your site and tried your recipe tonight. It was true--my kids loved it! Thanks so much.

We just got done eating this. YUMMERS. I have a 6 quart slow cooker, so I put in 3lbs of chicken thighs and doubled the sauce. At the end, I took out chicken, turned to high and whisked in a corn starch slurry. Let it simmer for 15 mins then added chicken back and turned off.

Not sure if it was due to the larger crockpot...or if mine just runs hot; but my chicken was done after 4 hours on low!

I checked the gf status of LaChoy soy sauce last spring and they would not say they are still gluten free. I could not find out why they won't say it isn't gf since there isn't anything in the ingredients that should be a problem. The good news is that there are now over 5 brands that make gf soy sauce in the US.

We tried this recipe a back on the day you posted it, and I am doing it again tonight!! I agree that the thighs are much more flavorful. :o) I didn't use as much soy as your recipe called for simply because I was "on fumes" and didn't want to go to the store for just one item. It turned out just fine with a couple or some tablespoons--just FYI--for those who are on a lower sodium diet. Thanks so much for sharing!!!

I used more chicken and decided to double the recipe for the sauce...it wound up covering the chicken....the chicken probably cooked longer than it should have cause it was a little too done, so I'm wondering if I should've just used the same amount of sauce and maybe it wouldn't have tasted so soaked in it....just wondering.....

Everyone in the house loved this recipe. Everything about it was great. Thanks for making a working mom feel great when I leave the house. I know when I come home, a great meal will be there or it I come home later, my kids will not be suffering with their father's cooking!!!

Made this yesterday and it was fantastic! Such an easy recipe and always have the ingredients on hand. I think next time i will cut back a bit on the soy (although i used half low sodium soy sauce, half Braggs Liquid Aminos) and add some red pepper flakes for a little kick.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! This one rocked. Sauce was a little thin, but the flavors were there and chicken was amazing. All 5 family members (even the picky 3 year olds) ate it. Now in our rotating recipe block.

this was AMAZING! i doubled the amount of chicken and doubled the sauce recipe for my 6 qt. crockpot. i realize that i've been overcooking my chicken, so this was done in 4 or 4.5 hours on low in mine. tastes even better the next day as leftovers!

I made this dish last Sunday. I halved the recipe as it is just myself and my son and it was done in about 4 hours on low in my 3.5 qt. cooker. I think i'll cut back on the soy next time since even with the low sodium kind it was a bit too salty. Regardless, both of us really enjoyed it. It's a keeper!

Oh so delicious! I chucked 4 lbs of frozen skinned, bone-in thighs into the crockpot this morning and poured the sauce over top (I doubled the sauce). It cooked on low for 9.5 hours by the time I got home and still turned out amazingly tasty and tender! Hubby and I will enjoy this all week....so simple and tasty! Thank you!!!

I adore this recipe.. it has become the new crock pot staple for my house, because I always have the ingredients on hand and just need to pick up chicken. I usually cut up some potatoes and/or carrots and throw them in, too, because they come out so tender and tasty (and save me the time of making a side dish!) I have a three-year-old who often barely eats dinner, and I caught him licking his plate after finishing up in record time. The only problem with this recipe is that I can't resist going back for seconds!

This turned out awesome. I doubled the recipe and had no problems at all. I had it on high of an hour, then turned it down to low for another 5, but it has been done for a while. The chicken thighs held up beautifully and picked up all the wonderful flavors. I added a little garlic chili sauce from the Asian grocery store (mine is called "Sambal Oelek, but I've tried several), and it gave it just a little bit of heat. Served it over brown rice with broccoli on the side. YUM.

Just found your site via a friend posting one of your recipe on her FB (what she was making for dinner) and I stumbled on this one... there were supposed to be leftovers for my hubby's dinner tonight... oups... so yummie! thank you!

I made this tonight and LOVED it. The flavors are amazing. I guess I was expecting it to be more like a sticky chicken with a thicker sauce. I saw someone's suggestion of taking out the liquid and combining on the stovetop with cornstarch to thicken it up. Is there any way to do that in the crockpot? Thanks again for an awesome recipe.

Made this for DH and DD last night. DH tends to be a bit picky when it comes to new foods. Turns out I should have made more! Both he and DD couldnt get enough of it. I reduced the amount of soy sauce and after serving it over some rice I added cornstarch to the liquid in the crockpot. It made a nice thick sauce that was perfect!! Can't wait to make this again!

Really wanted this meal to work out, but it was a flop in our house. The flavors seemed really basic - final product tasted like catsup and soy sauce. The honey, basil and garlic were completely masked. It's also not healthy, which I was willing to overlook if it turned out to be fantastic. Instead it is a ton of salt (from the soy sauce) and sugar (from the honey) and not much else.

hi, i just listened to something you were on? maybe podcast or somehting? it was on an app on my phone called mormon channel on everything creative. And i was thinking, i should cook in the crockpot more, because that is my super hectic time too, from 4-6 pm and i get so stressed out! trying to do dinner and asnwering all the "mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy" calls that never end from the kids. so today i was going to do a crockpot recipe, and the first one i typed in on google.com for chicken crockpot recipes was yours!!! ha ha ha... so i can't wait to try it, and i love that idea! it makes me want to do crockpot at least everyday!!!

Just cleared the dinner table, and am still reeling that my uber-fussy 7-year-old said he could eat it "a few more times." The hubs and I agree it needs a bit more to it - so we're going to add in some rough cut onions and maybe broccoli next time. It smelled sooo delicious, but the end flavor was leaning on the plain side. We'll try it again, though, if for no other reason than Mr. Picky will eat it! :)

Great recipe! Actually tasted quite a bit like Chinese Bourbon Chicken! I used the 6 hour low cooking method. In the last 1/5 hours I added fresh broccoli and sprinkled them with the existing juices. It was all perfect with a side of brown rice. Thanks!

This taste like Jerk chicken without the heat. I'll have to force myself to eat this now that I've made enough for 12! ack... I added some Chile Powder to help combat the weird taste. PS: Note the Soy sauce as "Lite" Soysauce. Otherwise everyone is following the wrong recipe.

Thanks for the recipe. I only had 1/4 c of soy sauce left in the cupboard and I added a little more honey to sweeten it up and it turned out great! Served it with Alexia's roasted veggies. Yum! I think I'll cut down the cooking time next time as the chicken breasts were a little tough. I'm also going to freeze the glaze for the next try!

I just put this in for the first time, I adapted it by:using low sodium soy sauceI put some black pepper on the thighs before adding the liquid and I added a few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes to give it a little kickI'm so psyched to try this! I will definitely do the corn starch thing to thicken it up if I think it needs it.

Agree with Jessica! Needed low sodium soy sauce, it was VERY salty with regular (and I love salt..). But made with teriyaki sauce instead the second time and it was ridiculously amazing. I've been craving it ever since. Also so great as left overs!

Had this for dinner last night. Looked and tasted very good, and the recipe was so simple! This is going to become a regular at our house. I used low sodium soy sauce. It was a nice combination of salty and seet. Thank you for noting the slow cooker size and time sdjustments. I find that so helpful!

Just a quick question. My husband can't have soy sauce but I really want to try this recipe. I'm not sure what to or if there is a possible substitute. Any ideas? May not be an option but I thought I'd take a shot! Thanks in advance!

Hi Grace, my readers who are allergic to soy have let me know about the wonders of Liquid Aminos -- they come in a bottle in the grocery store and can be used the same way.The popular brand seems to be "Braggs Liquid Aminos."I hope this helps a bit!steph

This was AMAZING and SO easy to prepare! Everyone in our family loved it! I substituted the chicken thighs for boneless, skinless breasts and for my crockpot it only took 4 hours on low to cook. Thanks for sharing this recipe! By the way, it freezes really well too!

Based upon comments and the idea the dish had a BBQ kind of flavor, I added 1/8 tsp. smoked paprika and a pinch of cayenne pepper. This ones going on the 'play it again' list! Also, the idea of putting all of the contents in a freezer bag for future use is being put into use today. Thanks for the great dish!

This amazing. My whole family devoured it and one requested leftovers for breakfast. Thank you so much!

I double the recipe and used frozen bone-in thighs. Since I didn't start it until 3:00pm and my family was super hungry, at about 3 1/2 hours I pulled each thigh out and separated it to finish the cooking faster. At that point it was mostly done - just not around the bone. It cooked in 4 hours on high.

Hi, Stephanie! My family doesn't eat soy and I have not been able to find a soy free substitute locally yet. We used to love honey garlic wings, so I was wondering if there was any point in trying this recipe with some other liquid, maybe broth?Thank you!

OMG! This was more delicious than I thought it would be, even my picky 10 yr raved about it. I used Kikkoman Soy Sauce, because that's what I had in the house, added some baby carrots for a veggie and served it with Uncle Ben's Long Grain Parboiled rice. I'll be making dish this again and again.

Just finished making this...the chicken is delish.I put about 10 skinless/bonelss thighs on a bedof sliced carrots.Wonderful flavors!I'm going to try the freezer method meal next.Thanks for another great meal, Steph!

Hi Just Looking, my oldest will now no longer eat dark meat. Breast pieces work just fine, but aren't as juicy. The sauce is fantastic, though, and can be used on top for dipping/ to add more moisture. Enjoy!!